Vale's top eight executives took home $25.2 million in 2014
in base salary and bonuses, an average of $3.15 million each,
compared to $21.1 million in 2013, the filing late Friday
showed. The company does not give salary breakdowns for
individual executives.

A Vale spokesperson explained on Monday that although
earnings fell last year, the bonuses were linked to targets
achieved in 2013.

The 19.4 percent pay rise came at a difficult time for Vale,
which made a full-year 2014 net profit of just $657 million,
well below analysts' average forecast of $2.5 billion. Adjusted
earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization
(EBITDA) fell 41 percent from 2013.

Vale is suffering from a slump in the price of its main
profit driver iron ore .IO62-CNI=SI. The mineral, the main
ingredient in steel, is close to its cheapest since spot-market
pricing began in 2008, due to slowing Chinese demand and huge
new supply from Australia.

2014 dividends rose 5 percent over the year to $4.2 billion.
For 2015 they have been cut by more than half.

Vale's salaries are not easily compared with those of mining
rivals such as Rio Tinto and Anglo American,
which report pay for their chief executive and chief financial
officer but not senior executives.
(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Richard Chang)